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Raptors gamble on unknown project Bruno Caboclo in NBA draft

Teen impressed Toronto staff at a Houston workout last week and is expected to play in summer league and be at training camp in October. Brampton native Tyler Ennis selected with 18th pick by the Phoenix Suns.

Masai Ujiri went to uncharted, unexpected, unknown territory with his first draft pick as the Raptors general manager.

A decade after the debacle that was Rafael Araujo, the Raptors once again are taking a shot on a little known Brazilian, taking six-foot-nine teenager Bruno Caboclo with the 20th pick in Thursday’s NBA draft.

It was a pick no one saw coming — Caboclo hadn’t worked out for a single NBA team privately — but one Ujiri and his staff are quite happy with.

And coach Dwane Casey came away from a workout he saw in Houston last week impressed. Caboclo is in currently in the United States working on visa issues to get to Canada and is expected to join the Raptors for the summer league season in Las Vegas in mid-July and to be at training camp in October. He wasn’t drafted to be stashed somewhere.

“Bruno is an athletic phenomenon,” Casey told reporters in Toronto. “This young man has a chance to hit it big. He’s raw but he’s going to develop in our program.”

The 19-year-old Caboclo played for E.C. Pinheiros in Sao Paolo last season; to suggest his statistics meant anything is a reach. He is relatively knew to basketball, Brazilian reports suggest he’s only been playing for about five years but his raw ability stood out when the Raptors saw him. He’s been the most valuable player of the NBA’s South America version of Basketball Without Borders, a program to which Ujiri pays tremendous attention.

“We went down to Houston to see him. Masai had been down (to Brazil) three times in a stealth move,” said Casey. “We’re excited about getting him. I know a lot of people don’t know about him. It reminds me a lot of Rashard Lewis. This young man stepped out and shot the three very well in drills. There’s a lot of potential there.”

The Raptors did go far more conventional with the 37th pick, taking Connecticut small forward DeAndre Daniels and chose Xavier Thames, a point guard from San Diego State, with the 59th selection.

Many in the Raptors camp had hoped that local product Tyler Ennis would have fallen to Toronto at No. 20 and become the first homegrown draft pick in franchise history.

However, Ennis went 18th overall to the Phoenix Suns, robbing Toronto of one of its targets.

Casey said the Raptors worked hard trying to find some suitable deal to get Ennis but nothing could be worked out.

The Raptors also toyed early in the day on a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies which would have given Toronto a second first-round pick.

According to a report from Marc Stein of ESPN.com, Toronto was trying to get the 22nd pick, along with veteran Tayshaun Prince from the Memphis Grizzlies in a package for John Salmons and the No. 37 selection.

The deal, according to league and team sources, would have been contingent on the Raptors being able to acquire two of their most sought-after draft picks.

They wanted to explore the possibility of getting both Ennis and Switzerland big man Clint Capela, both of whom might have been available when Toronto made its pick.

Capela ended up being drafted 25th by the Houston Rockets.

“We were going to try to get both, tried to move up for Ennis, couldn’t do it,” said Casey.

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